Lysine for Cold Sores: Everything You Need to Know

Conjecture:  Cold sores are evidence of low level scurvy or vitimin C deficiency. 

Once again it is important to properly charge your body with ample ascorbic acid.  You can easily go up to 40 grams and even more if you need it.  However for a healthy person experiencing cold sores, a therapeutic dose is a teaspoon of ascorbic acid.  I do a heaping teaspoon daily and this naturally suppresses all viral assaults.

Recall only humans and guinea pigs fail to produce it naturally.  all other mammals do it naturally because ot protects against all viruses.

Lysine for Cold Sores: Everything You Need to Know

Lysine and cold sores

Cold sores, or fever blisters, result from a viral infection. These painful, fluid-filled blisters commonly appear on or near the lips in clusters or patches. Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1, also known as oral herpes). HSV-1 can be spread through close contact, such as kissing.

There is no cure for a cold sore infection, but this condition can be treated with common antiviral medication, such as valacyclovir (Valtrex) or acyclovir (Zovirax). A medication you might take in addition to antivirals is lysine, an essential amino acid found in protein. It isn’t produced in your body, so you must consume it through an oral supplement or diet.

Common foods rich in lysine include:

beef

chicken

turkey

pork

codfish

sardines

eggs

yogurt

parmesan cheese

spirulina

soybeans

Lysine is essential for human health, aiding calcium absorption and collagen formation. Many people consume enough lysine in their diet. But some — athletes or vegans specifically — may need to consume more. If you don’t have enough lysine in your body, you may experience irregular symptoms, including:

fatigue

nausea

appetite loss

agitation

anemia

How it works

In order to replicate in the body, herpes simplex needs a steady source of arginine. This amino acid converts into nitric oxide within your body, a chemical necessary to expand blood vessels and improve blood flow.

Lysine is thought to interfere with arginine being absorbed into your intestine, making the amino acid unavailable for the virus. So even if it may not cure a cold sore infection, lysine can help slow or prevent the HSV-1 replication process.

In addition, older researchTrusted Source suggests that lysine may reduce the number of occurrences of this infection and decrease healing time. For example, a small study from 2005Trusted Source showed that lysine sped up the healing process for 87 percent of participants, shortening the average time from 21 days to 6 days for these people.

Dosage for treating or preventing cold sores

Lysine is available as an oral supplement and a cream.

To treat a cold sore infection, apply lysine cream to the affected area every two hours for 11 days.

To manage cold sore infections, the recommended dosage for oral supplements is 1 gram three times daily. To help prevent them, the dosage is 1 gram daily.

It’s also recommended that you take a zinc and vitamin C supplement to provide your immune system with an additional boost.

If you see no improvement in your condition, discuss dosages and alternative treatment with your doctor. If you begin to experience worsening symptoms, stop treatment immediately.